Safe top speed of Top Fuel tires at higher inflation pressures?

[Bigtime]

Top Fuel dragsters usually end the quarter mile at more than 320 mph.
How fast can their tires safely go?

Does it make a bid difference if you run somewhat higher inflation pressures?
I don't mean extreme inflation pressures of 50 psi or more.
Just some more air to prevent side wall wrinkling. Maybe some 20 or 30 psi.

[Glen]

Good luck.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

If you're wondering because you might want to use the same tires for a Bonneville car you'll need to first of all think about the fact that the tires have to last through an entire 6 or 7 mile run, most of it at speed.  That means miles of spinning at high speed and heating up from the speed and the loads on them.  This is why two identical (looking) tires, one for T/F and one for Bville -- are not interchangeable.

As for how fast the tire will hold together -- that one I don't know.  Maybe someone has tried spinning a few of 'em and can respond.

[kiwi belly tank]

It would be entertainment watching someone try them on the salt but I think it might be a little crowded on the return roads between the start line & the one.
  Sid.

[jdincau]

Didn't the Arivett Bros. try this with their streamliner at El Mirage?

http://www.draglist.com/Pictures/POD%20Oct%202000/POD-102000.htm

As I remember Kenny Hoover drove it.

[desotoman]

Didn't the Arivett Bros. try this with their streamliner at El Mirage?

http://www.draglist.com/Pictures/POD%20Oct%202000/POD-102000.htm

As I remember Kenny Hoover drove it.

Jim,

Those tires the Arivett Brothers used were an experimental T/F tire that I think Howard's or some other company tried to get T/F racers to use. They used a very large diameter rim with short sidewalls.

I thought about buying that car when it was for sale a few years back, but my first question when I went to look at it was where do you get those tires? I was told there were only a couple of pairs left and they were owned by other people. IMO it would have cost way to much money to redo everything for 30" M/T tires, so I passed on buying the car.

Tom G.

[POPS]

Goodyear rates them at 335mph. Principal reason they stop at 1000ft. Cap is way to heavy for any higher speeds. The heavy cap is what makes them bite so hard. The power can accelerate the cap into the ground so fast the car thinks it weighs 3 times more than it does. Great SAE written about 20 years ago with all the math, if you so inclined. Mike Strasburg crashed at El Mo with slicks. Hydroplaning on air I would imagine.

[Paolo Castellano]

Top Fuel dragsters usually end the quarter mile at more than 320 mph.
How fast can their tires safely go?

Does it make a bid difference if you run somewhat higher inflation pressures?
I don't mean extreme inflation pressures of 50 psi or more.
Just some more air to prevent side wall wrinkling. Maybe some 20 or 30 psi.

The principal difference between the drag tires and the Bonneville tires is the sidewalls. The sidewall construction on the drag tire is made to wrinkle and conform to hook while the Bonneville tire's sidewall construction is completely different and much stiffer. When I have spoken with the Goodyear, Mickey Thompson and Hoosier tire engineers, they seem to hyperventilate and practically hang up the phone if you even suggest the idea of running a drag tire for any distance greater than the 1/4 mile.

Somebody else touched on the fact that the Bonneville tires need to run 6-7 miles at speed which generates an incredible amount of heat. The drag tires have more tread on them than the Bonneville tires and therefore have a harder time to dissipate heat. Sustained high speed heat generation wants for a lesser tread depth to dissipate the heat.

It would be really nice to be able to run the 1/2 mile and mile races on the airstrip runways with monster slicks to be able to put down more power but they are unfortunately not made for such a task.

[tauruck]

Horses for courses.

Pay your bucks and get the right rubber for the application.

[redhotracing]

The M/T guys nearly hung up when I mentioned asphalt
LSR, even though the speeds are less than X275 classes
go in the 1/4 mile... But I'd agree; T/F tires have way too
much built in sidewall flex for sustained high speeds. Tire
shake at 400? Nicht gut.

[edinlr]

Think of the handling with slicks.  My early drag cars had the 9" cheater slicks.  These handled pretty well and were often on my car for cruising Friday and Saturday nights.  When I went to a wrinkle type sidewall slick, things changed pretty quick.  They launched hard but the handling was pretty funky and I can't imagine trying to steer and control that thing on a 5 mile run.

[jimmy six]

The tires and wheels were McGees. The same guy who nearly perfected the 4 cam TF Engine. The McGee tires held a wide contact patch all the way thru the 1/4 mile and did not grow. That was it's demise. I believe the TF's and FC's all use the growth of the tire for speed and are limited to a 3.20 gear ratio. The NHRA (aka Goodyear) would not allow a different gear ratio for a car using the McGee tire hence it was done by 800 ft.